Spring Thaw 2019
Despite cooler than normal springtime weather, members of La Compagnie and Western Lakes Station gathered at the Snake River Fur Post for a joint work weekend, preparing both club and personal gear for another reenacting season. Because plans for both groups to get...
Spring Maintenance of Your “Raquettes”
A hivernant should be on the lookout for four factors which can ruin showshoes (these do not include stepping on a bear trap or falling off a cliff!): Mildew and Rot in the Rawhide, Wood Rot, Warping, and Rodents. Make prevention and maintenance an annual task. Keeping your snow walkers dry, varnished, spaced and rodent free, they should last at least one lifetime of occasional use, maybe more!
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Women in the fur trade, and marriage “a’ la facon du pays”
During the fur trade, marriage a’ la facon du pays, or marriage in the manner of the country, was a marital relationship between Native women and European fur traders. Generally, the best interests of both parties were served. Very simply put, fur traders gained helpmates to cement alliances and make a monotonous life more bearable; Native Americans were offered a way of life which placed them in an important position politically and which was richer materially.
“De song of de Voyageur”
April is National Poetry Month, so who better for La Compagnie to celebrate than the man once called ‘the pathfinder of a new land of song,” William Henry Drummond? Writer of dialect verses such as “The Voyageur” and “Phil-o-rum’s Canoe,” Drummond (1854-1907) was an Irish-born Canadian poet and physician, whose poems made him “one of the most popular authors in the English-speaking world,” and “one of the most widely-read and loved poets” in Canada.
Hamilton, the musical and Tilden’s first principle
Regardless of your own opinions and interests, pay attention to what young people are passionate about. Read, or at least try to read, what they read. Watch what they watch. Listen to what they listen to. Follow Freeman Tilden’s first principle. Relate what you’re displaying or describing to something within the personality or experience of your listeners.
. . . my long Sufferings by the hand of Mr. Henry Schoolcraft: a letter from John Tanner, 1837
John Tanner was a white child captured and raised by Indians. becoming an adult within communities of Ojibwe of the Lake Superior and American-British borderlands. His personal story was recorded by scientific scholar and army surgeon Dr. Edwin James and published under the title “The Falcon.” Tanner worked at times as Ojibwe language interpreter for Henry Schoolcraft and for Dr. James and James used Tanner’s insights and translations as the basis for an Ojibwe grammar book as well as scholarly lectures. Here, in an 1837 letter, Tanner tells the President of the U.S. how his family was taken from him with Henry Schoolcraft’s complicity.
Ramblings of an Old Voyageur, part 3
Many years ago, veteran La Compagnie member Tom Brennan set pen to paper to share his “personal adventure of interpretation.” He described how we are all volunteers doing the best we can. If at the end of the day, we have awakened memories in a visitor, inspired interest in studying more history for a school child or simply introduced someone to a small segment of history and have had fun doing it, have we not done our job? Tom is gone now, but his ideas continue to resonate with us and encourage us to become better interpreters. Part 3 of 3.
Ramblings of an Old Voyageur, part 2
Many years ago, veteran La Compagnie member Tom Brennan set pen to paper to share his “personal adventure of interpretation.” He described his struggles with the question of what is it that we do when we interpret a different era to others. He set out what he discovered along the way, the basic principles of interpretation that he had developed over the years. Tom is gone now, but his ideas continue to resonate with any of us on the journey to becoming better interpreters
Ramblings of an Old Voyageur, part 1
Many years ago, veteran La Compagnie member Tom Brennan set pen to paper to share his “personal adventure of interpretation.” He described his struggles with the question of what is it that we do when we interpret a different era to others. He set out what he discovered along the way, the basic principles of interpretation that I have developed over the years. Tom is gone now, but his ideas continue to resonate with any of us on the journey to becoming better interpreters
Winter Frolic at the North West Company Fur Post
The annual Winter Frolic event at the North West Company Fur Post is a chance for the site to show off its winter interpretation . . . good snow cover, a frozen river, sixty pairs of snow shoes and the skills and enthusiasm of La Compagnie members and site staff and volunteers gave visitors an authentic view of the seasonal nature of the fur trade. Though the weather was unusually mild and wet, the event was well attended with lots of great activities for visitors. Spencer’s ice fishing lodge was a favorite but the curling was challenging and a lot of kids had fun there despite the ice being more of a water hazard than a curling field (are they called fields?). Inside there was winter storytelling and lots of “tavern” games such as Nine-Men’s-Morris to distract visitors from their thoroughly soaked mittens and boots.